Chapter 12

“Congratulations to this year’s graduating class!” The principal declares loudly. Students, parents and teachers alike stand to applaud the graduating students as they make their way, single file, towards the stage. Each student gets their own cheer, but no cheer is as loud as Hoseok’s parents when he accepts his high school diploma. Blushing furiously, he quickly shuffles off the stage. He glares at his friends, who are snickering heartily at his embarrassed face. But every single student collecting their high school diploma has a twinkle of pride in their eyes. So many assignments and so much work have led to this moment: receiving a piece of paper that completes an entire chapter in their lives.

“Now,” The principal begins as the last student exits the stage, “Give a round of applause for Mr Choi, voted number 1 teacher by this graduating class!”

Everyone cheers loudly as Mr Choi takes the stage. Mrs Lee folds her arms angrily, obviously in denial of her cruel teaching tactics.

Mr Choi shuffles his notes before beaming down at the students, looking a little teary-eyed and proud.

“Firstly, congratulations to all the students today, you’ve all done well,” He waits for the cheers to die down before continuing, “This year I came to understand my students a little better. Career day was my favourite day of the year. I was able to find out just how ambitious and ready my students are to enter the world.

But what really made my day and reminded me of why I became a teacher in the first place, is seeing so many students achieving their academic goals to follow their dreams.

My favourite example of this is Kim Jennie,”

Jennie blushes as all eyes turn to her. Sumi frowns. Jennie wasn’t academically gifted – actually, she was fairly mediocre. What is Mr Choi talking about? 

Suddenly, Sumi gasps as the realization of what the teacher is talking about falls into place.

“Kim Jennie dreams of becoming a doctor. However, when she first voiced her dreams, her grades were too low to get into medical school. Today, I am so proud to say that Jennie has exceptional grades and will be able to get into any medical school she likes. Congratulations Jennie,”

The entire hall cheers as Jennie begins to cry with joy.

I can’t stand this.

Sumi sniffles as she pushes through the crowd to reach her. She doesn’t have to move far, as Jennie is only on the other side of Jennie’s new friend and Hoseok. She beams as tears fall down her face. Jennie watches her, her eyes a little wide.

“I’m so proud of you,” Sumi mutters as they hug each other, sobbing earnestly at each other’s success and at the end of their childish feud.

“I’m so sorry,” Jennie hiccups as she pulls away, “I’m so sorry, Sumi,”

“Sshh,” Sumi chuckles as she hugs her again, “I’m so glad you made it. Congratulations, Jennie,” She pulls away, grinning so hard her cheeks start to hurt. Jennie jumps with excitement, clinging to Sumi’s hand as they turn to face the teacher again.

“Now,” The teacher clears his throat, “I have one more message for our seniors.

It is so much easier to keep up than to catch up. Don’t let your worries or emotions pull you away from your dreams. Always keep trying and never give up. You can always make new friends or learn new languages. But dreams don’t come easy.

Look after yourselves and stay safe. I’ll see you all at the 10-year reunion,”

Everyone cheers as Mr Choi leaves the podium. Jennie Sumi’s back as she is overcome with emotion once again. Sumi takes Jennie’s hand and laces their fingers together. Her heart aches for leaving Jennie to struggle on her own – especially considering how easy it was to reconcile. However, Sumi decides to push all that behind her. For right now, she is happy.

The rest of the ceremony is a blur. All Sumi can remember is the relief, happiness, and tears of joy. She is congratulated by her teachers and peers, especially after Mr Choi told the whole school about her manuscript during the awards presentation – which was accepted last week and will be printed in a month. She can’t help but feel proud of her achievements and her fellow students. What will they become? Will they successfully follow their dreams? Will their dreams change?

After the ceremony, many students decide to catch up with their teachers and students. Sumi is approached by many people she has never spoken to before. Seeing how nice they actually are, Sumi feels a little remorseful. However, the feeling is brief as she adds many of them on social media and obtains their phone numbers. She feels no regrets as she leaves the school gates with her friends, arm in arm with Jennie.

That is until she spots Jungkook lurking uncomfortably behind Jennie. For such a glorious day he appears nervous, giving Sumi quick glances every so often.

“I know he’s become your best friend over the past month or so,” Sumi says loudly, stopping the moving group, “But are you going to introduce me to Jungkook?”

Everyone stops and looks in unison. Jennie is apparently not the only person who has completely forgotten that Sumi is the only one who hasn’t officially met Jungkook. She has heard them mentioning him a few times, but he spends all of his time with Jennie, so Sumi never got to actually meet him.

The thought of ignoring Jennie for so long pains Sumi once again, but she ignores it as Jennie turns and grabs Jungkook’s arm, pulling him forward. He blushes heavily as he continues to glance down at Jennie’s hand around his arm.

As soon as Sumi faces him, she knows instantly. Jungkook has a major crush on Jennie. He only has eyes for her. But does she know?

“Jungkook, it is about time you met my best friend, Bae Sumi,” She beams at him, “Sumi, this is Jeon Jungkook, my study buddy who helped me get high enough grades to go to medical school,”

“Well done,” Sumi smirks, “That must have been difficult. How many times did you bang your head against the desk?”

Yoongi, Namjoon, and Hoseok snicker as Jennie playfully smacks Sumi on her shoulders. Jungkook visibly relaxes as she lets go of him.

He is being too obvious.

“Well, I enjoyed the company. It’s boring studying alone,” Jungkook smiles awkwardly, “Hopefully Jennie joins the same medical school with me so we can be residents together and studying will be even easier,”

Calm down, she’s going to notice. Sumi glances at Jennie, but she isn’t picking up on his behaviour. Jennie has always been oblivious to guys noticing her, which is strange considering how many do.

“Definitely! Us three should definitely apply for the same school!” She links arms with Hoseok. A flash of jealousy crosses Jungkook’s eyes, but it passes by so fast Sumi isn’t sure she saw it right.

“Anyway, let’s go get ice cream,” Namjoon grabs Hoseok and Jennie, who clings to Jungkook, and drags them away, leaving Sumi and Yoongi standing alone.

“We’ll catch up!” Yoongi calls out, giving Namjoon a very grateful look. As usual, Yoongi has asked Namjoon to ‘clear the room’.

They start following the others slowly, leaving enough distance to not be overheard.

“So,” Yoongi rubs the back of his neck, “Congratulations on the manuscript,”

Sumi’s heart skips a beat as she realizes that she never told him it was accepted.

“Oh,” She gulps, “Sorry, I was meant to tell you earlier but…”

“I know, it’s been crazy,” He smiles weakly. However, Sumi can still tell he is disappointed that he found out with the rest of the school.

“Yeah,” Sumi nods.

They continue to walk in silence. They can’t seem to find something to say or talk about. When did they become so awkward around each other?

“Sumi, listen,” Yoongi sighs as he grabs Sumi by the wrist. She stops in her tracks and gently pulls out of his grip.

“Yeah?” She murmurs. She can feel all the emotions welling up, but she can’t seem to stop them. She already knows how this conversation is going to end.

“Namjoon and I have selected the day we are going to audition,” Yoongi rushes on, “And I still plan on studying in America,”

Sumi doesn’t reply. She bites her lip to stop herself from crying. Crying isn’t going to help the situation; it is only going to make it worse.

Why are we in such a cruel situation?

“How should we do this?” Yoongi whispers sadly. Sumi shakes her head and stares up at Yoongi, finally making up her mind. She loves him, more than she can bear. After watching all those people talk about their dreams, and all the couples happily talking about their goals without worrying about each other, Sumi finally realized her mistake. 3 years isn’t that long. If they love each other, it’ll work. They can still make it work, right?

“I want to keep this going,” Sumi says firmly stepping closer, “I love you so much and I don’t want us to end,”

Yoongi sighs and frowns down at her, his dark eyes swallowing her up. She would rather get lost in him than wonder why he is looking at her with pity.

“I was thinking about what you said,” Yoongi takes a deep breath before continuing, “And you’re right,”

“Right about what?” She replies quickly. Why isn’t he happy that she is ready to try?

“It isn’t going to work,” He bites his lip and looks away, “We are too broken and complicated to make long distance work,”

“No, wait,” Sumi grabs his wrist, “I’ve been thinking about this all day, and I realized that I understand where you are coming from. It’s not like you’re not coming back. We can make this work!”

Yoongi pulls out of her grip and frowns deeper, almost glaring down at her.

“When was the last time you were jealous?” Yoongi asks seriously. Sumi considers the question, thinking back of the past 2 years. However, her heart sinks when she recalls the time they almost broke up: The Busan trip.

Yoongi went with a group of boys to go camping in Busan over a weekend about a year ago. During the trip, Sumi called him and overheard a girl in the background. She was furious and broke up with him. When he came back, she found out that the girl was a store clerk where they were buying food for the camp.

Judging by Sumi’s facial expression, Yoongi knows she is thinking of the same occasion he is.

“There are going to be many girls in America, which is expected,” Yoongi says, brushing over his last question, “You are too jealous to handle that,”

“Are you telling me you want to break up so you can ‘enjoy’ America better?” Sumi snaps, folding her arms across her chest. She can feel her frustrated tears welling up, but she can’t stop them. She can’t think of a single solution to this sudden change in the problem. She thought all she needed to do was say yes, but now she realizes how wrong she is. She has pushed him so hard, and so far into a corner that he has changed his mind.

A tear slides down her cheek.

Yoongi groans with frustration.

“This is exactly what I’m talking about!” He steps forward and grabs her shoulders roughly, “Have I ever cheated on you?”

“No… but…” Sumi murmurs.

“Have I ever looked at another girl like that?”

“No…”

“Have I ever spoken to another girl, excluding Jennie, in any other way except academically?”

“I don’t know…” Sumi bites her lip, feeling more and more stupid. Why is she so jealous?

“But, no matter what I do, you still get jealous,” Yoongi sighs and lets her go. He slides his hands into his pockets, staring at the ground.

Sumi can’t find anything to say. She can only stare at him pleadingly. She has no answers, only demands.

Does she deserve him?

“Sumi,” Yoongi looks up, his eyes burning, “Do you want to be happy?” He asks.

Sumi doesn’t reply. She can’t stop staring into those dark eyes. She is already lost in them. Eventually, she nods.

“Then let’s…” He pauses, “Let’s just do things that make us happy…”

Sumi frowns, unsure what he means by this. After a moment of silence, Yoongi turns and walks away, in the opposite direction of their friends.

Sumi lets out a sob. She stumbles to the nearest bench and places her face in her hands.

She replays the conversation in her head before silently sobbing.

What do I do? What do I do?

Is it really over?